Method of securing an increased yield of welting from leather stock



Dec. 18, 1934. v w J. FALLQN, JR 1,984,525

METHOD Of SECURING AN INCREASED YIELD OF WEZUI'ING FROM LEATHER STOCK Filed Nov. 10, 1933 //\/VENTOR I M 1M 9 Fig.4

BY La.l. MILAN/M ATTORNEY Patented Dec. 18, 1934 TUNITED STATE METHOD OF SECURING AN INCREASED YIELD OF WELTING FROM LEATHER STOCK William J. Fallon, J r., Boston, Mass. Application November 10, 1933, Serial No. 697,455

2 Claims.

This invention relates to a method of out-a ting double shoulders or other large sections of leather stock so as to secure an increased yield of strip leather such as welting therefrom.

Welting for boots and shoes is usually made of expensive high grade leather stock, and it is therefore important to cut the stock so that it will give the greatest possible yield of weltmg.

It has been the usual practice heretofore to square the ends of the large sheets of leather stock by. trimming off the rough or uneven edges, and then divide the stock longitudinally into strips several inches wide and as long as the stock. The ends of these long narrow strips have then been scarfed so that they may be adhesively secured together to form a continuous strip many yards long and having strong smooth joints connecting the individual strips. The short pieces of leather which are tapered in cross section and removed from the stock by the transverse scarfing cuts have, however, been practically worthless heretofore and have been disposed of as waste or scrap leather.

The present invention contemplates a method of profitably utilizing the leather which is removed from the ends of the sheet of leather stock in forming the transverse scarfing cuts, and of converting this material which has been heretofore discarded into welting. As a result of the present invention approximately two more yards of welting can be secured from a double shoulder of leather stock than could have been produced heretofore, and furthermore a pronounced saving inthe labor required to scarf the ends of the leather stock is secured.

The invention will be more fully understood from the following description when read in connection with the accompanying drawing illustrating the present method.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a double shoulder of leather stock.

Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the double shoulder of stock after the ends thereof have been scarfed.

Fig. 3 on a larger scale is a perspective view of part of the two strips of leather removed from the stock of Fig. 2 by the scarfing cuts.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view showing the two strips of Fig. 3 secured together to form a com posite leather strip; and

Fig. 5 is a perspective view showing the strip of Fig. 4 divided to form strips of welting.

The forward portion of 2. hide comprising the neck and shoulders is the leather stock commonly used in making good strong welting. This portion of the tanned hide is known as a double shoulder and is designated by 10 in Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawing. The stock 10 in accordance with the usual practice has been out to provide the straight edge 11, and the end portions of the stock have been trimmed or squared up to provide the straight edges 12 and 13. This gives the leather sheet a substantially rectangular configuration as shown and it is well adapted to be cut into strips of leather several feet long and of practically any desired width.

In forming welting from the stock 10 it has been the practice heretofore to cut the stock longitudinally into leather strips several inches wide and then scarf the opposite ends of each of these long narrow strips so that the strips may be secured together end to end to form a continuous strip of any desired length. The end scarring operation just mentioned removes from the long narrow strips small pieces of leather several inches long and tapered or wedge shaped in cross section, but these small pieces of leather are practically worthless and have been disposed of heretofore as waste or scrap leather.

The present invention contemplates a method of avoiding the waste of leather just mentioned so that the stock removed by scarfing the ends of the sheet 10 may be profitably used. This is accomplished in accordance with the present method by scarring the ends of the sheet 10 before this sheet is divided into long narrow strips, as indicated in Fig. 1 wherein the scarfed ends are designated by 14 and 15, and the strips of leather removed from the sheet 10 by the scarfing cuts are designated by 16 and 17. In this manner two strips of leather l6 and 17 are secured, each of which may be over two feet long and an inch or more in width.

While these two strips of leather are wedge shaped in cross section as best shown in Fig. 3, a composite strip of leather 18 of approximately the same thickness as the sheet of stock 10 is readily formed by adhesively securing the strips 16 and 17 together as shown in Fig. 4. A strip of leather 18 is thus secured from material which has been wasted heretofore and the strip 18 may be split longitudinally into two or more welt strips 19 and 20 as shown in Fig. 5, or may be otherwise employed, with the result that through the employment of the present method approximately two more yards of welting may be secured from the sheet of stock 10 than heretofore.

Furthermore a substantial saving in labor is secured, since by scarfing an entire end of the sheet 10 in a single operation instead of scarfing separately each of the several strips cut from the sheet 10 only two scarfing operations for the entire sheet 10 are required as compared with the ten or twelve scarfing operations considered necessary heretofore.

After the ends of the sheet 10 have been scarfed as at 14 and 15 in Fig. 2, the sheet 10 may be severed along the lines 21 into long narrow strips of the desired width, whereupon the scarfed ends of these strips may be adhesively secured together as above mentioned to form smooth strong joints between them. a

What is claimed is:

1. The method of securing an increased yield of welting from a double shoulder of leather stock that is several feet long and approximately two feet wide, which consists in scarfing each end of the double shoulder of stock by forming a scarfing cut entirely across .theends of the stock before the stock is out longitudinally into a plurality of strips, to thereby secure from eachxend of the stock a strip of leather about an inch wide which is tapered in cross section and approximately two feet long, securing two of said tapered strips together with their inclined faces contacting to form a composite leather strip having at least twice the width of a strip of welting, and dividing this composite strip longitudinally into two or more strips of welting.

2. The method of securing an increased yield of welting from a large sheet of leather stock that is several feet long and over a half yard wide, which consists in scarfing each end of this large sheet of stock by forming a scarfing cut entirely across the ends of the stock before the stock is cut longitudinally into a plurality of strips, to thereby secure from each end of the stock a strip of leather about an inch wide which is tapered in cross section and over a half yard long, securing two of said tapered strips together one over the other to form a composite leather strip having at least twice the width of a strip of welting, and dividing this composite strip longitudinally into two or more strips of welting.

WILLIAM J. FALLON, JR. 

